A short story to share

I wanted to share a short story I wrote some time ago. No, it’s not a Christmas story. My stories tend to be a little on the dark side and I fear if I were to write a Christmas story good ol’ Santa Claus may befall some tragic event that would threaten Christmas forever. So, for the sake of all the boys and girls of the world, and the safety of St. Nick, I will refrain from writing a Christmas story. See, I think I just saved Christmas.

Now, the story I would like to share is not holiday related. In fact, I wrote it years ago for a writing class. It’s flash fiction, so it will be very short. The premise was I had to write a story in under 30 minutes with no rewrites. I wrote it and it stuck. I didn’t know where I was going with it when I started the first sentence but it developed over the course of a few paragraghs and it stuck. Here is my flash fiction story. Happy reading.

Harry’s Journal

To whom it may concern,

Those of you that read this might think I made this up. Others might just think I was crazy. But this is not an act of lies or deception, but my honest account of an otherwise amazing yet unbelievable event that I see as my duty to tell you about.

I am not looking for publicity or fame nor am I looking to scare anyone who may come across this. I guess I should begin another way. My name is Harry. It is the name I was given and the only name I know. Much of the world as I know it is the same now as it ever was. My friends always told me I lived a life of fairytales. If they only knew what had happened to me, they would have changed their minds.

My knowledge is not made up out of thin air and at no time did I get inspired by anything I had read. It’s hard to explain this without giving you a little history about me.

I am seventeen years old. I guess that would be the right way to explain it. I had friends who were like my family, family that were my life and a girlfriend, Rachel, who was the better part of one whole of me. I didn’t have a bad upbringing and for the most part, have lived a good, even if I can say, great life. If only it would have stayed that way, I would not be leaving this for you now and you wouldn’t have any reason to read it. For that I am sorry.

The event I speak of came without warning and to my credit, unwarranted. I have never been special or gifted so there really isn’t any explanation for any of this except, it just is. After that event, things started happening to me which I couldn’t explain. I first started noticing things were different a few weeks ago, but I dismissed them altogether. I tried to live my life as normal as possible, but things kept happening. I would see things and hear things all the time with growing frequency. No one believed me when I tried to tell them what I was going through. Not even my girlfriend. In fact, they stopped talking to me altogether.

I know what you must be thinking. I am some young kid looking for attention but I assure you that is not the case. I have no cause for attention nor do I want it. I just want to live my life without distraction. I want a normal life. Not one interrupted by events that are beyond my ability to control. I know you may not want to believe me and I don’t blame you. If I were you, I wouldn’t have any reason to believe it either but I must insist you read further and the true nature of what I am writing will become clear.

I lost the ability to communicate with my friends because of everything that had happened. I am not looking for your sympathy. I have enough of my own but I have learned to accept what has happened to me as I hope you will too. I am a conduit. I can commune with the dead. This is the part where you might be inclined to stop reading and walk away but please don’t because you need to finish reading this. This is not something I want or desire, it just is and it is my duty to explain it to you.

Due to events that I have endured, I have lost the ability to communicate with the living. I didn’t understand it at first until I realized that the event that changed my life was actually my death. I had died but had no idea that it had happened. As to how I died is not of importance, just the fact that I did. Please know that I can no longer communicate with the living. Is this starting to become clear to you?

I finally accepted my death in return to help others who haven’t been able to accept their own. I am a conduit for the dead and if you are able to read this then you must realize that you are like me. I can only communicate with the dead and I am communicating with you now. I know it’s not easy to believe, but in time, you will come to accept it as I did. I am sorry to be the one to have to tell you.